Temple University Athletics
Temple University
University of Georgia
Temple Gymnastics to Travel to #8 Georgia Friday Night
1.28.26 | Women's Gymnastics
ATHENS, Ga. - The Owls will hit the road this week and travel to Athens, Ga. for the Georgia Quad Meet on Friday, Jan. 30. The University of Georgia Bulldogs will host Temple, Fisk, and Central Michigan for a 7:00 pm meet. The meet will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.
Temple head coach Hilary Steele will be returning to her Alma Mater at the Georgia Quad Meet. Steele helped the GymDogs win two NCAA Championships the first being in 2008 and the second in 2009. As a freshman, Steele earned second team All-America honors on the beam with a 9.850 score. Her senior year Steele won the SEC Vault Individual Championship.
Fans tuning into SEC Network Plus for the meet will hear a familiar voice. The voice of the Temple Owls, Kevin Copp, will be on the call for the Georgia Quad Meet. Copp is also a graduate of the University of Georgia.
LAST TIME OUT
Temple University Gymnastics finished with a 193.875 in the Temple Quad Meet in Philadelphia.
FINAL RESULTS
1st Place – Penn (195.075)
2nd Place – George Washington (194.350)
3rd Place – Temple (193.875)
4th Place – Texas Woman's (193.300)
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ROTATION ONE (VAULT: 48.300)
The Owls came out with consistent scores throughout the opening rotation with everyone scoring above at least a 9.500. The fifth and sixth spots of Nikki Rengifo and Amelia Budd posted the highest scores on the event for Temple. Rengifo notched a 9.725 and Budd scored a top finish of 9.750.
ROTATION TWO (BARS: 48.425)
Temple moved into the second rotation looking to again post consistent scores on bars. Senior Reese DeHaan led off in the lineup and posted the team's highest score on the event, a 9.775. The score was enough to tie her for third place overall in the meet. Tonight's anchor, NazstaziaSimone Henry-Jubitana, was able to end the rotation strong for the Cherry & White as she put up a 9.700.
ROTATION THREE (BEAM: 48.250)
Hailey Best started off the third rotation with a bang. The junior notched a new career-high on the beam with a 9.850. Not to be overlooked, Megan White also posted a career-high on beam. The New Hampshire native put up a 9.850 on beam to help the Owls. Robyn Dunne put up her second-highest score of the season on beam tonight with a 9.750. Both Best and White tied for second place overall in the meet with their scores of 9.850.
ROTATION FOUR (FLOOR: 48.900)
Much like the beam, the Owls began floor with a high score thanks to Mariella Brueck. The junior matched a career-high with a 9.800. In the fifth spot Nikki Rengifo posted a team-high on the floor with a 9.825. This was a season-high for the sophomore. Rounding out the lineup was Brooklyn Thomas and she did not disappoint. The freshman tied her career-high of 9.800 on the floor to get the Owls an overall floor score of a 48.900, the highest of the season.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
The Georgia Bulldogs will be the second SEC top-10 team that Temple has faced this season. The GymDogs come into the meet as the eighth ranked program in the country. Georgia is ranked in the top-10 in two events through week four of the season, seventh on bars and first on floor. Week one of the season was a strong win over #21 ranked Ohio State on the road in which the GymDogs put up a score of 197.000. In the team's only home meet of the season against #2 LSU, Georgia posted a season-high score of 197.200 to top the Tigers. Last week against another #2 ranked opponent in Oklahoma, Georgia suffered its first lost of the season in a 198.425-196.875 defeat by the Sooners. On the floor, Lily Smith and CaMarah Williams are two names to watch for Georgia. They each have posted a 9.950 this season on the event.
Fisk comes into Friday's meet with a 3-8 overall record. In a tri-meet with Kent State and West Virginia the Bulldogs finished with a season-high score of 188.975, despite the third place finish in the meet. Fisk has found some success on the beam this season thanks to senior Aliyah Reed-Hammon. Reed-Hammon put up a 9.775 on beam a few weeks ago, a season-high for the Bulldogs. She has yet to dip below a 9.525 on the apparatus.
The Central Michican Chippewas come into the season with a 4-0 undefeated record. In the three weeks the Chips have competed they have put up high scores as a team, with the highest coming against in-state rival Western Michigan (195.000). Last time out, CMU took on Illinois State and came out on top by a final score of 194.900-193.625. CMU has shined on the bars this season, ranking 20th overall in the country. Senior Luciana Alvarado-Reid has led the Chips on the bars as she put up a team-high score of 9.925 in the Chip's opening meet of the season. Graduate student Lia Kmieciak is another key name to watch this weekend for CMU. Kmieciak has scored a 9.900 on the bars this season while also posting a team-high 9.825 on vault.
UP NEXT
The Owls will remain on the road for their next meet of the season as the team will travel up to Durham, N.H. to face the University of New Hampshire. This EAGL competition will be on Sunday, Feb. 8 at 2:00 pm from Lundholm Gymnasium.
Players Mentioned
